LAHORE: Fast bowler Mohammad Amir was told to keep his concentration only on cricket, team manager Intikhab Alam said on Thursday after the pacer was finally granted visa for the upcoming New Zealand tour.
Earlier on Thursday, Amir’s final hurdle in returning to international cricket was cleared after he was granted visa for New Zealand and transit visa of Australia for the above-mentioned tour.
Pakistan will play three ODIs and as many Twenty20 Internationals on the tour.
Intikhab on Thursday told reporters that the squad would leave Lahore for Karachi on Saturday and from there the party would fly out to Dubai the next day to go to New Zealand via Sydney.
Amir, 23, has been selected in the national team after he completed the five-year ban imposed on him by the ICC in a 2010 spot-fixing case that emerged in England, along with two other team-mates — Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif — but he was waiting for the visa which needed some legal requirement.
Intikhab said Amir had been advised to keep his concentration only on cricket, ignoring all other things, emphasising the left-arm fast bowler had now got a great opportunity after getting second life in international cricket.
The manager said his main focus during the New Zealand tour would be to maintain discipline and a harmonious dressing room atmosphere.
Meanwhile, the manager said the national fitness camp, which ended at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, proved very useful in enabling the players to retain physical fitness, a crucial factor in cut-throat international T20 contests. “The team is not facing any fitness-related issue.”
He added: “All the players and coaches worked tirelessly at the 16-day camp during which special training was given to players to help them improve in all departments of the game.”
While acknowledging that New Zealand were a hard nut to crack particularly at home where they fared impressively in the recent five-match ODI series (winning 3-1) against Sri Lanka, Intikhab reckoned Pakistan also possessed promising players who could give the hosts tough time in the ODI as well as T20 series.
“A detailed meeting was held on Thursday where the coaches gave some tasks to all the players; hopefully the plans will click,” he said.
Meanwhile, seasoned all-rounder Shoaib Malik said the camp helped him make considerable improvement in his fitness level.
“Fitness level of [several] Pakistan cricketers, including mine, is lower when compared to international players of other countries. So, hopefully more such fitness camps would be held in future in order to make us enhance fitness,” Malik stated.
Noting there was nothing new in teams from Asia struggling to perform well in countries like South Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand due to unfavourable playing conditions, Malik underscored the same could be said about non-Asian sides who also faced problems in producing good shows in Asia.
“The team which have the ability to adjust quickly to local conditions hold the margin to perform well and win.”
Malik, who made a prolific international comeback last year after spending several years in the wilderness, said he had learnt from his mistakes and consulted some former cricketers to improve his cricketing skills. “My decision to continue playing domestic cricket paid off in me staging comeback to the national side.”
Giving his view on national T20 captaincy, Malik said he would consider the job if offered.
“If the PCB offers me [T20] captaincy [after Shahid Afridi retires] I will look into it.”
He also praised Amir’s talent as a fast bowler and hoped the returning would perform well for Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2016
